Preemptive Strike
' |image= |series= |production= 40277-276 |producer(s)= |story= Naren Shankar |script= René Echevarria |director= Patrick Stewart |imdbref=tt0708757 |guests=Michelle Forbes as Lt. Ro Laren, John Franklin-Robbins as Macias, Natalija Nogulich as Admiral Nechayev, William Thomas, Jr. as Santos, Shannon Cochran as Kalita, Richard Poe as Gul Evek |previous_production=Emergence |next_production=All Good Things... |episode=TNG S07E24 |airdate= 16 May 1994 |previous_release=Emergence |next_release=All Good Things... |story_date(s)=Stardate 47941.7 |previous_story=Crossover |next_story=The Collaborator }} =Summary= Ro Laren's "homecoming" is interrupted when Federation ships from the renegade group the Maquis attack a Cardassian vessel near the Demilitarized Zone. The U.S.S. Enterprise crew is able to successfully chase away the vigilantes. However, the Cardassians, led by Gul Evek, are angered by the growing threat posed by the Maquis, and promises Cardassia will take matters into its own hands if the Federation does not force the Maquis to uphold the peace treaty. Admiral Nechayev decides to send Ro Laren into the Maquis community as an undercover operative. Ro is uncomfortable with the assignment since, as a Bajoran, she has spent most of her life fighting the Cardassians, but accepts the mission out of loyalty to Picard. Ro begins her deception in an alien bar, pretending to be a fugitive accused of killing a Cardassian, and talks with a man named Santos, who stuns her with a phaser. Upon awakening in a Maquis settlement, Ro tells the group who surrounds her that she sympathizes with their cause. The Maquis members check her story and, when they find it to be true, allow her to join the group. Ro soon bonds with an older man named Macias, who takes her under his wing. Later, Ro learns that the Maquis suspect the Cardassians are smuggling biogenic weapons into the Zone. In order to launch a preemptive strike, the group will need extra medical supplies, but has none on hand. Seizing this chance to convince the Maquis of her loyalty, Ro takes along a skeptical member of the group, Kalita, in order to raid the Enterprise for the needed supplies. During the attempt, Picard realizes what Ro is doing and plays along, and as a result, Ro successfully convinces the Maquis that she is truly on the group's side. Afterward, Ro meets secretly with Picard and tells him about the Maquis' suspicions. Picard sees this as the perfect opportunity to set a trap and lure the entire group into attacking a false target. However, he senses that Ro is growing increasingly uncomfortable with her mission, but she assures him that she will do her duty. She then returns to the colony and starts planting the misinformation needed to lure the Maquis. However, her guilt continues to grow, especially when the group is attacked by a trio of disguised Cardassians. Macias is killed in the attack, and tells Ro with his dying breath that she must take his place in the fight. Ro meets again with Picard and tries unsuccessfully to lie to him about the Maquis' plans. Unsure of her commitment, Picard has Riker accompany her, posing as her brother. As the Maquis head for the border, the Enterprise waits to ambush the group. But at the last moment, Ro grabs a phaser, points it at Riker, then reveals the Enterprise's location. The Maquis ships retreat, and Ro goes with them, asking Riker to tell Picard she is sorry she let him down. =Errors and Explanations= Internet Movie Database Character error # When Capt. Picard is talking to Lt. Roe in the bar he tells her that there is only going to be six ships in the convoy and they could cut that number down if they had to but later when Data is talking Capt. Picard he says, "this is the convoy," and the camera changes to view the Long Range Scan 0128 and there thirteen objects with labels, nine white and four blue moving on the screen. Extra ships could have been added to the convoy at the last minute. Continuity # Riker tells he never thought about shooting on his own people to protect the Cardassians. In the episode The Wounded Picard also threatens to destroy the starship Phoenix. Riker is speaking purely for himself. Incorrectly regarded as goofs # Picard tells Ro that two years ago, Starfleet would never have considered sending her on the mission at hand. She later tells the Maquis that she was released from prison three years ago because Starfleet wanted her to work for them in Bajoran matters. ' (IMDB) What Picard means here is that Ro would not have been chosen for this type of mission shortly after being reinstated by Starfleet, obviously because of its much more sensitive nature. In the meantime, however, she must have gained a lot of credit with Starfleet, which Picard suggests as well.' # In the opening battle with the Maquis, when the Enterprise disperses two of the ships with phaser fire, space appears to be shaking. ' (IMDB) This seems to be a common effect whenever explosions occur.' # Ro says she was sent to the stockade on Jaros II after being court-martialed. ' (IMDB) This is not to be confused with Garon II, where the incident occurred that got her the court martial, as mentioned in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ensign Ro.' Nit Central # Spockania on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 2:09 pm: Ya know, it's episodes like this that make me wonder about the Federation. These guys are still Federation citizens (this point is repeated several times). They were left in Cardassian hands. Why? I don't know, it doesn't make too much sense, but they were. What do they do? They form a military force to fight the Cardassians. This is apparently their only option. My response is "Huh?" If the Federation is a democracy/republic with representation by all, then they should protest. Form lobbiest groups. Contact their public officials, try to reopen talks or just have the Feds apply a little pressure. This should work, but no one tries it despite apparent large scale support for the DMZ residents among the Federation (and particularly Starfleet). All I can assume is that the Federation isn't a democracy after all, but an oligarchy ruled by an elite "council" that meets far from the front lines and doesn't care about the small details like inconvenient people. ScottN on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 7:18 pm: In "Journey's End", they gave up their Federation citizenship. Spockania on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 7:27 pm: True, ScottN, that is why it is a changed premise. By this episode (and also in DS9) they have recovered their status, creating a whole new nit. Brian Fitzgerald on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 6:38 pm: The people on that one planet in Journey's End gave up their Federation citizenship. The people on the rest of the Demilitarized Zone planets did not. # Rene on Monday, April 16, 2001 - 3:04 pm: In this episode, Ro claims biomimetic gel is perfectly legal. According to DS9, it's not. Maybe Ro was mistaken. # John A. Lang on Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:19 pm: The end of the episode was kind confusing. Why didn't Riker stop Ro from betraying the Federation and from defecting? I mean, sure she's a woman and it's not polite to punch a woman, but why not give her a Karate chop or something to subdue her until the shuttle got back to the Enterprise? kerriem on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 7:19 am: John A., you are kidding about Riker subduing Ro, right? John A. Lang on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 12:53 pm: OK..how's this? Have Riker have a transporter transponder to activate & have the Enterprise beam them both out the shuttle before Ro can warn the Maquis ships. LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 3:00 pm: Wasn't Ro holding Riker at phaser point? John A. Lang on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 3:19 pm: Yes...However, the phaser could be deactivated in the Transporter Room (As seen in "The Most Toys") R on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 6:31 pm: The scene might have gone like this then: Riker: Enter---- ZAAAAP! Ro: Dummmove asshat. John A. Lang on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 7:55 pm: Point well taken. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 4:54 am: Why are there colonies in the DMZ? I am not a military expert, but it seems to me that if you are going to establish a De-Militarized Zone, you would do it in a barren open region where you could see the other side coming, not through a high traffic area where people live. Either the colonisation was an attempt to ensure the area remained weapon free, or the colonies were already there. # Bajor was taken over by the Cardassians forty or fifty years ago, so theoretically, Bajor was in Cardassian space, but the DMZ is between Bajor & Cardassia. Was Bajor a 'peninsula' of Cardassian space? Was it such a vulnerable point of attack that the Cardassians decided it was easier to give it up and move their border back? Bajor ceased to be Cardassian territory when they withdrew. Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation